Product Description
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For this 26th volume of MST3K, an introduction could well be
pared down to "one cult TV series with two guys, two robots, four
movies and 10,000 jokes." This new collection of previously
unreleased episodes picks up where the last 25 left off: seating
you next to the funniest peanut gallery in television history.
It's a deep dive into the human instinct for survival, where our
warped warriors aboard the Satellite of Love find the funny in
the tragic... or at least the cheesy. In fact, it's not too
hyperbolic to insist that what Joel, Mike, Tom Servo and Crow T.
Robot do, as they defend US against the slings and arrows of
outrageously unfortunate movies, is nothing less than keep US
sane. If you don't agree, you re obviously crazy. See what we did
there? Titles Include: THE MAGIC , ALIEN FROM L.A., DANGER!!
DEATH RAY & THE MOLE PEOPLE.
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Magicians, mole people, super spies, and supermodels all get
their just deserts courtesy of the crew of the Satellite of Love
in Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXVI, which offers up a quartet
of episodes from the Peabody Award-winning cult comedy series. As
with previous Shout Factory releases, the four experiments
included here, which make their home video debuts with this set,
offer a cross-section of the program's entire television run,
from its fourth season on Comedy Central (The Magic ) to its
eighth-season debut on The Sci-Fi Channel (The Mole People).
Though ranking the four episodes is a moot point--like pizza and
other simple delights, even the most lightweight MST3K entry
offers more laughs than most current network shows--only The
Magic , which puts paid to Bert I. Gordon's supremely silly
fantasy, can be honestly called a bona fide classic, thanks in
part to inspired riffing and a memorable host segment featuring
Crow T. Robot's impassioned love song to elderly star Estelle
Winwood. Season five's Alien from L.A., with a helium-voiced
Kathy Ireland, runs a close second due to the dizzying of
its references, which cover everything from Devo and Ted Nugent
to Ray Stevens, wrestler Nick Bockwinkel, and the drag dance
corps Les Ballets Trockadero. The Euro thriller Danger!! Death
Ray, from season six, and The Mole People are amusing if
unmemorable efforts that should please completists, but it's
Magic and, to a lesser extent, Alien from L.A. that will
remind longtime fans and show first-time viewers why Mystery
Science Theater 3000 retains its status as one of television's
funniest and most imaginative shows.
Shout Factory fills out the set with a handful of extras, some
more substantive than others, but all with something to hold the
viewer's interest. Head writer Mike Nelson, who took over for
series creator Joel Hodgson in the fifth season (and stars in
three of the four episodes included here), is profiled in the
newest installment of Life After MST3K. Nelson discusses his
transition to host as well as his books of humorous film
criticism and stint in RiffTrax, which takes an MST3K riffing
approach to both mainstream and B films. Both Bert I. Gordon and
The Mole People receive their own featurettes, though the former
offers only a thumbnail of the prolific
writer-producer-director's prolific career. Of Mushrooms and
Madmen: Making the Mole People is more substantive, exploring not
only its production but studio demands to add a downbeat ending
for its onscreen romance between human and underground dweller
for fear of miscegenation charges! Alien from L.A. director
Albert Pyun talks about the film's unusual budgeting and the
challenges of Ireland's stratospheric voice (he also politely
hedges on giving an opinion of the show's of his film),
while clips of Nelson showing off respectable fencing skills
while in Jack Perkins drag from The MST Hour round out the set.
--Paul Gaita